


Two Years

by HexingQueen



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, for Kiera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7924573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HexingQueen/pseuds/HexingQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Two weeks was no timespan for anyone to fall in love in.</p>
<p>But two years - two years of laughter, music, dancing and freedom - two years was just right."</p>
<p>Short Stahldelia drabble; no warnings apply.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Years

_‘How to make him fall for you in a fortnight.’_

If only it were that easy.

Cordelia had lost count of the weeks – months, years – she has spent carefully following each instruction with the greatest amount of care possible. She had lost count of the times she had taken heed of _‘step 1 – compliment his appearance’_ , and she had certainly lost count of the times she had successfully carried out _‘step 2 – be confident around him!’_

She could be on step 58 – and still, his eyes would be for a dancer, or a tactician, or even her best friend – anyone, it seemed, but herself.

And, as such, she had deemed the book ridiculous.

How to make someone fall in love in only 2 weeks – it was simply impossible. Besides, nobody _actually_ fell in love with batted eyelashes and perfectly combed hair – nobody fell in love with compliments and flattery at every chance possible. On closer inspection to her closest friends, it seemed that the way to go was hexes and candy.

Somehow, she doubted she’d find love through either of those things.

It was on the nights when Sumia was picking flowers and Panne was out hunting that she found herself alone, a single figure in a room of crates and weapons.

It was on those nights that she found herself slowly strumming at the strings of her harp – quiet, sad songs, laments of lost love and loneliness – and other times, traditional Ylissian lullabies, songs played to her in her youth and never quite forgotten.

At least – she used to play alone. She often found herself, now, with the company of someone so different from Chrom in every respect she found herself strangely calmed by his presence.

Stahl, in all that he was, was possibly the most imperfect person she knew. His hair was a mess, his fingers clumsy, his speech stammered and babbling.

He was more the sort to make ten sandwiches in a minute than to command an entire army – more the type to fall asleep at midday than rule a nation, and certainly more the type to smile at her every morning than brush past her and ignore her existence.

It was a sad but true fact that she had forgotten what it felt to be loved.

The cavalier’s blushed face around her was taken as a sign of it being too hot out – his smiles a sign of friendliness, the way he watched her across the hall just the way he looked.

Besides, she was sure he would love another. Sully, perhaps, in her unique sort of beauty, who had been a lifelong friend for him. Panne, who was cool and collected, a powerful presence and strongly independent woman. Or perhaps Lissa, who, despite being rather young, always greeted Stahl with a smile and a cheer.

So, truly, he did not love her.

And she did not love him.

Months passed for the shepherds and the war had seemingly ended – Gangrel was gone, and a new era of peace shrouded the land.

And so Cordelia stood, amongst the happy and the laughing, in the corner of a room, watching the love of her life wed someone else.

A royal wedding was a momentous occasion, and no expense had been spared. The castle was beautiful, every Ylissian in the land was invited to a ball, and even Cordelia herself had felt a momentary moment of a strange sort of happiness.

A happiness that had soon passed.

She stood, silently, her eyes focused on the floor, on the ruby red heels on her feet – anywhere, _anywhere_ but the oh so happy couple, when his voice has interrupted her thoughts.

“Are you alright?”

Of course.

The redhead’s eyes flickered over to the taller figure frowning at her – a drink in one hand, food in the other, suit creased – in all his glory, Stahl had found her, as he always did.

She paused a moment, clearing her throat and standing up straighter.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Stahl’s eyebrow raised, an unbelieving laugh escaping his lips. He placed his various snacks on a nearby table and, as gracefully as he could, offered a hand to her.

“Dance with me?”

She faltered slightly, her gaze finally drifting over to Chrom and his newfound wife, and she nodded slowly, her fingers lacing with his.

“Thank you, Stahl.”

He laughed, and for the rest of the night, she did not think of Chrom again.

But still, she did not love him.

Two years passed, and the princess’ birth was the latest gossip around Ylisse.

Cordelia had found herself grooming her Pegasus when the news came to her that the baby was a girl – Lucina, meaning illumination, light. She had been named so to signify hope for the realm, a light at the end of a decade-long war with Plegia, the stars in a dark, dark night sky.

Stahl had been beside her as the servant had brought her the news – and, strangely, Cordelia found herself more caring of what he thought about the princess than herself.

He had merely smiled and said the name seemed nice, if a little pretentious.

It was a month later – a warm spring evening when she first realised.

He had just laughed, that was all.

A laugh that she heard every day, and yet, she never tired of it. She never tired of his long, rambling speeches. She never tired of his dud notes on the harp. She never tired of his smile, or his bedhead, or his unbeatable achievement of eating 50 grapes in one minute.

And so she realised that she would never tire of him.

Stahl, who was always ready with a comforting word and a warm, tight hug for when she needed most, had completely and utterly taken over her heart.

Two weeks was no timespan for anyone to fall in love in.

But two years – two years of laughter, of music, of dancing and freedom – two years was just right for Cordelia.

And she wouldn't change it for the world.

 

_-fin.-_  

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Reviews are appreciated.


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